What is the dream in your heart? What is the desire that burns within you? What does your soul long for? If God would do anything for you, what would it be?
It is important to identify that one thing, because many times the dream, the desire, the fire that burns within your heart will be a clear indicator of God’s will for your life.
Philippians 2:13 (AMP) says, … for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
The Lord is creating in you the desire to do His will.
And Psalm 37:4 (NKJ) says, Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
So many people read this verse and see only part of its meaning – the part where if they will delight in the Lord, then He will fulfill the desires of their heart. And I believe this is completely true.
However, I also believe that if we spend much time in His Word and in His presence (through prayer) and truly learn to delight in Him, that He will place desires within our hearts. In other words, the desires that are in our heart have been given to us by the Lord.
These desires are things that are part of His plan and purpose for our lives. We may think that these things that are so dear to us are only our natural desires, but all along the Lord has been planting seeds of desire within our heart. And if we’ll nurture and water those seeds, they will come to fruition in our lives and place us right in the center of His perfect will.
(For further reading on this topic, check out Discovering Your God-Given Purpose.)
This is why it is so vital to live a life that is true to yourself. Don’t be in bondage to be who others expect you to be or to do what others expect you to do.
Have the courage to follow your heart and follow your dreams! They are important to God. And many times those dreams and desires have been given to you by Him to enable you to fulfill His plan for your life and to fulfill your joy!
Oh! Thank you for this! I do have dreams that have been growing in my heart recently. And, I have been staying close to God, seeking to align my heart with His…Could it be that He really has placed these desires on my heart? My word for 2014 is courage — so to live courageously, I need to have faith and step out of the boat! How else will I know what He has planned for me? Thank you for this encouragement!
Blessings, Joan
This post is great! It’s perfect for a new year, when many are reflecting on the “desires of their heart” for the upcoming year. I strongly agree, that God will place the desires *into* our heart, if we are in tune to it!
This is a great post! I agree with you how he places desires in our hearts as well! I’m visiting from a thrive @ home thursday!
I needed to read this today, thank you Alisha for sharing words from your heart that never seem to fail to speak to mine!